Entertainment

Chinese consumers – famous for their appetite for designer bags and gold-plated iPhone cases – are now shying away from flashy logos and displays of wealth as a government austerity campaign shames officials who buy them. But many Chinese appear to be flaunting their wealth under their clothes.

According to The China Luxury Forecast, released by Ruder Finn and Ipsos Group, 90 percent of the approximately 2,000 respondents plan to increase or maintain their spending on luxury goods, reports China Daily. However, luxury spending patterns in China are changing.

Losses have widened at Woolworths' home improvement joint venture with US retailer Lowe's despite their attempts to cut costs, boost sales and put a brake on new stores.

Figures released on Wednesday by Lowe's suggest that losses at the joint venture, which owns Masters, Home Timber & Hardware and Thrifty-link stores, widened to around AUD57 million (USD48.9m) in the three months ending October, up from a loss of AUD38.8 million in the previous quarter and a loss of AUD48.6 million in the first quarter of 2014.

A consortium led by China's Fosun Group is investing in German retailer Tom Tailor Holding AG, bringing another Western brand under the private conglomerate's wing for expansion back at home.

Fosun, Tom Tailor's management and other investors are buying a 23.16 percent stake in the retailer, according to a Tom Tailor news release on Wednesday. The financial value of the sale wasn't disclosed.

The firm plans to bring Tom Tailor to more Chinese consumers, said Fosun President Wang Qunbin in the release.

Italian luxury menswear house of Canali opened this week a new store in Hong Kong. The new Canali store covers 180 sqm and is situated within the Pacific Place Mall. The new store features the brand’s new design concept, inspired by the rationalist architecture of the 1930s and constructivist art.

Denmark-based fashion house Bestseller, which owns Vero Moda, Jack & Jones and Only, recently snapped its four-year-old franchisee ties with its Indian partner, Bombay Rayon's Prashant Agarwal. Bestseller, owned by Danish billionaire Anders Povlsen and family, is the latest in a series of such splits.

The Lunar New Year holiday is now underway, a time when a big part of the 110 million Chinese expected to travel abroad this year will be packing their bags – and their wallets – for luxury expeditions.

Chinese shoppers are cutting back on designer duds, leather handbags and pricey watches, putting a drag on global sales of luxury goods, which a study forecasts to expand just 2 percent this year.

The analysis released Monday by Bain & Company estimated 2013 luxury sales at EURO217 billion (USD300 billion), up from EURO212 billion (USD288 billion) in 2012. The increase is a fraction of the double-digit growth enjoyed the previous three years.